THE homeroom teacher of the science key class Wu Hai, praised the student who ranked first in the mock exam in the whole grade. The result of the mock exam last week had already been posted. The top one, of course, belonged to the science key class. Actually, all the students who were in the top 10 were from the said class.

"And also, I want to praise student Luo for ranking 10th in the whole grade. Everyone should already be aware of his situation. But despite that, he rose against all odds, accepted in our academy's key class, and now even ranked 10th in the whole grade for our first mock exam. This should inspire everyone to work harder and don't let any set-backs stop you to do the best you can."

Wu Hai was actually quite surprised when the result of the mock exam came out. He didn't expect that Luo Yan would rank 10th in the whole grade. So, what he said just now was what he really thought from the bottom of his heart. Someone so hard-working deserved respect.

Luo Yan smiled shyly and thanked the teacher. He already expected as much. He probably could rank first if he put everything he had on the test. But he resisted. Because if he ranked first on his first mock exam, it would just appear shady. Some bad-hearted people might think that he cheated. He didn't want to go through the trouble of proving them wrong.

So, he didn't really do his best. And just made sure that his result would be good but not too good that he would be in the top three. That way, no one would question his exam result. They would just think that he was smart and hard-working. He could just rise on the ranks gradually. It would be more natural that way.

And then homeroom began.

The morning class continued on. During one of the breaks, a number of students surrounded Luo Yan's seat and congratulated him for the result of his mock exam.

"You did great, Xiao Yan," one said.

"Yes, placing 10th was truly a great feat," another said.

"Thank you," Luo Yan said, smiling sweetly.

"Can you tell us your usual review method?"

"My father hired tutors and they help me review the classes every weekends. I guess that helped a lot," Luo Yan said.

Of course, he was just talking nonsense. When school started, the teachers his father hired to teach him no longer went to their house. It was because he told his father that he really didn't need tutors because he was already studying at a school. He didn't want his all free time to be spent studying. His father readily agreed. Well, it's mostly because he acted pitifully when he requested that. His father would probably agree to anything he asked as long as he shed a tear.

Sure enough, once his classmates heard his answer, they had an expression like saying 'ah, so that's why'. Now with this, they would surely no longer question the result of his mock exam.

Soon, the bell rang. Signaling the end of the morning class.

Luo Yan was ready to leave when he saw Yu Jiao walking towards him. He stopped and waited for her. He suddenly remembered what she said last Friday. That she decided to walk together to lunch with him and Luo Jin.

"Yan Yan, congratulations on ranking 10th," Yu Jiao said when she finally reached him.

Luo Yan observed the tall girl in front of him. He could see the tension between her eyebrows. Obviously, she was very nervous talking to him openly like this in the presence of their classmates. But she persisted. Clearly, she already made up her mind to let everyone know of her friendship with him. How could Luo Yan disappoint him?

"Thank you, Jiao Jiao. You too, congratulations on ranking fourth," he said smiling, his words and actions showed that he was very close to her.

Their classmates almost didn't bulge their eyes when they saw this scene. Just when did the class' invisible girl became close to Luo Yan to the point that they would call each other in such a familiar manner? This was something really unexpected. No one here probably even thought of this possibility.

One of the people who was surprised by this turn of events was Huang Wen. But his focus was kind of different from the others. He was kind of uncomfortable hearing this, he wasn't even sure what her name was, girl, calling Luo Yan 'Yan Yan'. As if she was very close to him.

Then he suddenly remembered that incident with Yin Chen. If he remembered correctly, this girl tried to protect Luo Yan. Was that the start of their friendship? Then what about him? He also helped Luo Yan back then. How come nothing had changed with their relationship?

Wait- what the heck was he thinking just now? It sounded like he also wanted to get close to that brat. Annoyed, he just walked out of the classroom.

Noticing the gazes of their classmates sticking to Yu Jiao, Luo Yan asked, "Should we go?"

It's better to leave now before these kids came back to their senses and tried to surround him and Yu Jiao. She would probably reach her limit if that were to happen. He didn't want her to have a bad experience on the first time that she decided to reveal her friendship with him.

Yu Jiao nodded. And before their classmates could react, the two already left the classroom.

On their way down, the gazes of other students continued to stick to Yu Jiao.

"Is this really alright?" Luo Yan asked. He was worried that she wouldn't be able to take the gazes of these people.

"I-it's alright," she answered. Her voice was trembling a bit. But you could also hear an unwavering determination in there.

Luo Yan smiled, quite satisfied with Yu Jiao's actions. He believed that this was the start of her transformation.

Her transformation to the confident young woman that she should have been.